1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe of a radial scan type which is compatible with an ultrasonic probe of a convex scan type, an ultrasonic observation apparatus which is capable of connecting the ultrasonic probes of the radial scan type and the convex scan type, and an ultrasonic diagnosing system.
2. Background Arts
Recently, in a field of medical care, a medical diagnosis using ultrasonic images is widely used. In an ultrasonic diagnosis, an ultrasonic is emitted to a required area of a living organism from an ultrasonic probe, and an echo reflected from within the living organism is received and converted into an electronic signal. The echo signal is analyzed and converted into an image. Further, an ultrasonic probe of an electronic scan type is also known, which is provided with plural ultrasonic transducers for transmitting and receiving the ultrasound. The ultrasonic probe of the electronic scan type selectively drives the ultrasonic transducers by using an electronic switch or the like.
As the ultrasonic probe of the electronic scan type, there are a convex scan type and a radial scan type (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2-134142). The ultrasonic probe of the convex scan type has, plural (for instance, 94 to 128) ultrasonic transducers disposed in a sector shape on a tip of the probe. The ultrasonic probe of the radial scan type has a plurality of (for instance, 360) ultrasonic transducers all around an outer periphery of a tip of the probe.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional ultrasonic diagnosing system 100 of a convex scan type. The ultrasonic diagnosing system 100 is constructed of an ultrasonic probe 101 and an ultrasonic observation apparatus 102 to which the ultrasonic probe 101 is connected. It is possible to design an ultrasonic observation apparatus of a radial scan type by using a structure of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of the convex scan type. However, since the ultrasonic transducers of the radial scan type has more number of ultrasonic transducers, it is necessary to increase the number of input/output lines in each circuit. For instance, terminals of a second connector 105, input lines of a multiplexer (MP) 108, control lines of a scan controller 107 and the like should be increased in number. Likewise, a beamformer (BF) 111 should be modified according to the increase in the number of sound rays forming the ultrasonic image. In the modification, it becomes necessary to newly design the multiplexer 108, the scan controller 107 and the BF 111 in accordance with the number of the ultrasonic transducers, which result in a long-term development and an increasing cost.
Further, an ultrasonic observation apparatus, which is capable of applying both the ultrasonic probes of the convex scan type and the radial scan type, is desired. In particular, it is preferable that the ultrasonic observation apparatus of the convex scan type can be easily modified so as to connect the ultrasonic probe of the radial scan type.